WASHINGTON—President Trump posted a video online that included imagery depicting former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes, prompting swift condemnation from Democrats and Republicans.
The video appeared to have been deleted late Friday morning.
The roughly one-minute video, which Trump posted on Truth Social late Thursday, features a narrator questioning the security of voting machines used in competitive states in the 2020 election. In the final seconds of the video, images of the Obamas’ faces on the bodies of cartoon apes appear. They bob their heads against the backdrop of a jungle as the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” plays.
The imagery plays into longstanding racist tropes dehumanizing Black people.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, one of the highest-ranking Black Republicans in Washington, criticized Trump’s post. “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” he wrote Friday on social media. “The President should remove it.”
Earlier Friday, the White House defended the president, saying the imagery of the Obamas was a clip from an internet meme that portrays Trump as a lion and Democrats as cartoon animals.
“Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
The original meme depicts Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker as an elephant, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as a meerkat and former Vice President Kamala Harris as a turtle. The animals bow down to Trump. The video Trump posted on Thursday night included the portion of the meme that featured the Obamas, but didn’t reference the other Democrats.
On Friday, Jeffries wrote on social media that the Obamas “represent the best of our country” and called Trump vile and unhinged. “Why are GOP leaders like John Thune continuing to stand by this sick individual? Every single Republican must immediately denounce Donald Trump’s disgusting bigotry,” Jeffries said, referring to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.).
US President Donald Trump takes down video with racist clip depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes after Republican backlash https://t.co/9Fr9Ctjqur
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) February 6, 2026
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the video was “Disgusting behavior by the President. Every single Republican must denounce this. Now.”
Rep. Mike Lawler (R., N.Y.) called the president’s post “wrong and incredibly offensive—whether intentional or a mistake—and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered.”
An Obama spokeswoman didn’t immediately comment.
Trump posted on Truth Social more than 30 times late Thursday night and early Friday morning. The posts questioned the results of the 2020 election, which Trump lost, and attempted to distance himself from disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, among other things.
In an interview with NBC News this week, Trump was asked whether he believes the things that he has reposted on Truth Social about the 2020 election, including discredited claims that Italian military satellites were used to hack into voting machines. “No, no. No. No…I sometimes will retweet…I’ll retruth,” Trump said.
